Whale Facts

As a break from our reciprocal reading today, we googled whale facts on the internet and wrote what we learned in our own words.

What does a starfish have for lunch? Our Summary

Anna: The story is about sea creatures.
I think there is a little classroom at the laboratory or an actual classroom.
It has shellfish in the story.
Ms Donnell: Can you think of anything Anna has left out of her summary that maybe should be there?
Quinn: She didn't say anything about the teachers. Maybe there should be something about them.
Ms Donnell: Yes, that would be good to add to the sentence about the classroom. What about the title of the story? Does Anna's summary relate to that?
Phoenix: This story is about school kids going on a trip to the education centre
When they are there they learn about sea animals - octopus, crabs, starfish and lobsters and how they eat.
Why do they want to learn about sea animals?
Logan: They want to learn about: Sea creatures and what they look like
Sea creatures and what they eat
How sea creatures move
Quinn: I think it’s about the people who go to school in their class and they go to a laboratory called a marine education centre and they learn about sea animals and how they eat.

What does a starfish have for lunch?

The first step in reciprocal reading is to make a prediction based on the title and illustrations.
We were going to do a voice thread for this but the picture wouldn't upload so we will write our ideas.
Anna: It is about sea creatures - because it's called "What Do Starfish Have For Lunch?" but there are also pictures of other sea creatures.
Nathan: It is about a starfish and what it eats.
Phoenix: It's a school story. I know because I can see a teacher and lots of kids.
Quinn: It's about these kids that try and test what starfish eat. They study what they eat.
5/5/09
Today we read the introduction.
Anna: It's about the Island Bay Marine Education Centre and there are two schools going to visit the laboratory.
6/5/09
Now everyone has read the whole story.
Ms Donnell: Does it tell you what starfish have for lunch?
Quinn: Yes, it says the starfish has mussels and other shell animals.
Nathan: A starfish doesn't eat crabs because they're too nippy. It doesn't eat fish because they're too fast. If anything, the fish would eat the starfish.
Anna: The story is also about octopus and crabs.
Next we will think of some questions using the question words to help us to get more meaning from the story.
7/5/09
Today we have been preparing questions about the story. Alongside, we have written where we think we should look.
Phoenix: Which hole does the octopus suck the poison into? in the story
Anna: Where is the Island Bay Marine Education Centre? -internet, an atlas
How does the octopus get out of its tank? in the story? google? encyclopedia? book about octopuses?
Who had eyes at the end of their arms? encyclopedia? book about starfish?
Quinn: How many days does it take for the starfish to open the mussels? in the story? (3 days)
Nathan: Why is it called"What does a starfish have for lunch?" when there's all the other types of ocean life in the article? from our ideas
Phoenix: How does the octopus get out the tiniest gap? like Anna's question
11/5/09
Here are some of the tricky words from the story that we have discussed:
marine - of, found in or produced by the sea
education - learning, teaching
The Marine Education Centre is an Education Centre that teaches about things found in or produced by the sea
knowledge - facts, information that they have learned
Victor Anderlini and Judy Hutt share the facts and information they have learned.
laboratory - a place or room where science experiments are carried out
There must be a laboratory at the Marine Education Centre
sieve - a tool made of wire or plastic with holes in it so you can strain liquids out and keep solid things in the sieve.
"Judy shows Hamish how to scoop a crab from a tank, using a sieve."
There were quite a few words that we looked at. Our vocabulary is growing.